Chapter Twenty-Two
"Mmm, these river shrimp are delicious, so fragrant, so fragrant!"
Ji Xingguo picked up his chopsticks and put the river shrimp into his mouth, praising it repeatedly. His eyes lit up and his cheeks puffed out as he ate, occasionally taking a sip of baijiu (Chinese liquor).
"Meimei, how did you make this dish? How did you manage to make such fishy river shrimp taste so delicious?"
Even Ji Xingguo, who enjoys cooking, became interested in this dish.
Seeing that her father was so supportive and enjoyed her cooking, Ji Wanmei was also very happy. She said, "The secret to this dish is salt and pepper. Because the river shrimp are too small and don't have much meat, you need to use salt and pepper and burnt chili shells, and then stir-fry them in hot oil to infuse them with flavor. The aroma of the salt and pepper and the spiciness of the burnt chili shells mask the fishy smell of the river shrimp, making them crispy and fragrant."
“If you like this snack with your drinks, I’ll make it for you often in the future,” Ji Wanmei said.
"No, you've taught Dad, so I'll do it myself. These river shrimp have a lot of thorns and whiskers, so they're hard to handle. Be careful not to hurt your hands."
In Ji Xingguo's eyes, his daughter's hands will be used to write articles and go to university in the future, so he can't let her use them to touch daily necessities and do rough work.
Ji Wanmei couldn't help but feel her father's endless doting on her. She was already eighteen, but her father still treated her like a little girl, forbidding her from doing this or touching that.
Little did she know that it was precisely because of her father's doting and protectiveness that Ji Wanmei developed such a naive and trusting personality in her previous life.
It's not that this kind of personality is bad, it's just that sometimes being too trusting of others can easily lead to being taken advantage of.
Because not everyone in this world is a good person.
Ji Wanmei doesn't argue with her father; she prefers to do things quietly on her own.
Just like now, she quietly prepared a meal and waited for her father to come home. Although her father didn't approve and told her not to cook it next time, he was very happy inside.
Ji Wanmei knew all of this.
Halfway through the meal, Ji Wanmei thought of the incident involving Lei Tingjun and his brothers assaulting someone, so she casually brought it up: "Dad, I heard Chunyan say today that someone's son in our compound seems to be in the hospital? Is that true?"
When this was mentioned, Ji Xingguo's good mood turned sour: "Don't even mention it. I've had Director Wang teach those hooligans in the factory a lesson so many times. They always cause me trouble."
"This time, those guys beat up Deputy Director Zuo's son. I heard he's in the hospital, and I don't know how serious his injuries are. Deputy Director Zuo definitely won't let this go so easily. He came to my office this afternoon, insisting that I get justice for him. He made a scene there for a long time, and I had to persuade him to leave after much pleading."
Upon hearing this, Ji Wanmei also felt that the matter was becoming tricky.
Didn't she already have Lei Tingjun and the others apologize to her?
Why is Deputy Director Zuo still causing trouble for her father?
Ji Wanmei asked, "In this kind of matter, we can't just listen to Deputy Director Zuo's side of the story, can we? Why don't you have Director Wang call the other party over and find out what happened? Then we'll know who's at fault."
Ji Xingguo retorted, "They've already beaten someone into the hospital, so how can it be the victim's fault?"
He downed the remaining half-glass of wine in one gulp, placed the glass on the table, and frowned, saying, "That Lei Tingjun is a real headache. He's always forming cliques and calling each other brothers in the factory. It's ruined the atmosphere here. Taking advantage of Zuo Quangui's incident, I plan to clean up the social atmosphere in the factory."
Upon hearing this, Ji Wanmei became anxious: "Dad, you haven't even investigated the whole story, how can you be so sure it was Lei Tingjun's fault? What if it was that Zuo Quangui who started it?"
Ji Xingguo looked at his daughter strangely: "Why are you suddenly so concerned about this?"
Ji Wanmei paused, then lowered her head to cover up her embarrassment, saying, "That's nothing... we're all from the same compound, we know each other."
"Alright, you don't need to worry about things at the factory. Just focus on your studies for the next two months and prepare for university. If you still need anything, like clothes, go buy them now so you don't end up scrambling when you get to the provincial capital. You're a girl, so I, as a grown man, don't really know what you need."
“Take this fifty yuan. If you have time, ask Luo Chunyan to go shopping with you. If you don’t have enough money, just tell your dad.”
As Ji Xingguo spoke, he took out fifty yuan from his shirt pocket, placed it on the table, and handed it to Ji Wanmei, telling her to take it and buy something.
Ji Wanmei looked at the money with a hint of helplessness.
Why is it that one or two of them all like to just give her money directly?
At noon, Lei Tingjun also insisted on giving her fifty yuan, and now that her father has come back, he has given her fifty yuan as well.
At that time, one hundred yuan was equivalent to a month's salary for a level-two worker in the factory.
They generously gave it all to her.
"Oh, Dad, I don't want the money." Ji Wanmei pushed the money back. "I haven't even finished the pocket money you gave me before. Besides, I don't need anything and there's nothing I need to spend money on."
"Why are you disobedient!" Ji Xingguo pretended to be angry, his face stern. "You should take it when your father tells you to. A girl shouldn't be without some money on her. Buy yourself some personal items."
Although Ji Xingguo was a grown man, he knew that girls' lives were different from boys'. Some things, such as a girl's menstrual period, underwear, hair ties, hair clips, scarves, and clothes, also cost money.
Ji Xingguo wouldn't buy these things, so he could only give his daughter the money and let her buy whatever she liked.
But in this day and age, it's rare to see someone give their daughter pocket money that's equivalent to half a month's salary for an average person.
This shows how much Ji Xingguo loved and doted on this daughter.
Ji Wanmei couldn't go against her father's wishes, so she had no choice but to put the money away.
But she was still a little worried about Lei Tingjun, and asked again, "Dad, what are your plans to do about Zuo Quangui's matter?"
Ji Xingguo said sternly, "Handle it as it should be. Whoever started it will be punished. Otherwise, if this kind of bad habit of gang fighting develops in the factory, it will have a very bad impact and affect our Dongfang Factory's rating. I will never tolerate such a thing happening again."
When he said this, Ji Xingguo's authoritative and unyielding leadership was fully revealed.
Ji Wanmei may have forgotten.
Although at home, Ji Xingguo is a doting and loving father with a gentle and easy-going temperament, always smiling, outside the factory, in front of thousands of workers, he is a highly authoritative and imposing factory director.
Ji Wanmei frowned. If her father insisted on dealing with this matter severely, wouldn't Lei Tingjun and his brothers suffer a loss at Zuo Quangui's hands?
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